Sharp Demonstrates Foldable OLED Display for Smartphones
by Anton Shilov on April 12, 2019 11:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Displays
- Mobile
- Sharp
- OLED
- Foldable Smartphones
Sharp this week demonstrated its first foldable OLED display at a special event in Tokyo. At present, the device was demonstrated as a part of a smartphone prototype and right now the company is evaluating prospects of its commercialization.
Sharp’s 6.18-inch foldable OLED screen features a 2992x1440 resolution, a 19:9 aspect ratio, and can cover the DCI-P3 color gamut. The display is equipped with a foldable touch panel, and polarizer, so it can be installed on a smartphone or a similar device even today, assuming that an appropriate hinge as well as electronics have been developed as well.
Sharp is among a few makers of OLED displays which have publicly demonstrated their foldable OLED screens so far, so from technology point of view the company is among the leading players.
The manufacturer says that its foldable OLED displays were subjected to 300,000 of fold/unfold cycles (with a 3-mm radius) and survived them. Therefore, assuming that Sharp has tested enough screens, we can speculate that it looks like the technology is more or less robust already. That said, it is possible to expect its commercialization in the coming years.
Sharp, which returned to the global market of smartphones fairly recently, already produces its own curved 6.2-inch OLED displays for its flagship Aquos Zero handset launched in January. It remains to be seen though whether the company decides to commercialize its foldable 6.18-inch OLED screen with a 19:9 aspect ratio, or will prefer another form-factor.
Related Reading
- Sharp Aquos D10 Smartphone: Mid-Range with ‘Wide Color Gamut’ Display
- TCL Low Cost Foldable Display for Everyone: Patented DragonHinge
- Samsung: Galaxy Fold Is Tested to Fold/Unfold 200,000 Times
- Samsung Announces The Galaxy Fold: The First Folding Display Smartphone
- Huawei Launches the Mate X: Folding in a New Direction
- JOLED Demos 21.6-Inch OLED Monitor for Gamers
- New 8K OLED Displays for Tablets and Laptops: 8.3 and 13.3 Inches
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
16 Comments
View All Comments
PeachNCream - Friday, April 12, 2019 - link
I'd be okay with a folding phone if there were two distinctly independent screens or if a single screen screen folded over to cover a numeric keypad. So maybe more of a hinge and less of a bend in a screen would be more appealing to me. ZTE, for as much bad press as it has gotten, makes a nice folding handset, I think it's the Cymbal Z233. It's a slick little device and the price is acceptable.pjcamp - Friday, April 12, 2019 - link
What's most interesting about this (and for some reason it is hard to make out in their promotional videos) is that it looks like it folds flat. No gaps, no creases. If so, that is a major advance over everyone else.s.yu - Sunday, April 14, 2019 - link
Look closer, the screen isn't fixed into the unit, it's fixed at both ends with the curving center just floating there, this is just a demonstration unit that isn't usable because the screen will wobble under any external pressure and may even break if you poke it because of the lack of support underneath. Also it says in the text that it's rated for a 3mm radius curve.khanikun - Monday, April 15, 2019 - link
Pretty much. It literally just looks like the screen in a folding box. Probably no hardware at all in there, just the screen being powered by something external.Midwayman - Monday, April 15, 2019 - link
I'm excited for these phones when they work out the kinks. I love my old LG lotus back in the day. recreating that form factor, but with a normal smartphone screen inside would be incredible.mega shows free - Monday, April 15, 2019 - link
Really excited to see this samsung already announces the foldable phone and iam waiting to use this,reagrds,
https://megashows.xyz/